Request
by fluffystwin
Summary: Sakura is given an off the books mission, to track down what exactly has happened to Tsunade and Shizune. When a team is sent after her, what will happen to the new budding relationship between Sakura and Kakashi? Challenge fic from Danax
1. Chapter 1

Fluffystwin: Well this has been a long process, it's coming up on finals week for me so I kept getting laden with homework so this was pushed to the backburner, sorry Danax. Now this is a challenge fic from Danax and I can honestly say I have had a lot of fun writing it. I don't write that much KakaSaku but it's slowly worming it's way up to becoming one of my favorites to write. Of course there's a little hint of other relationships that will be revealed later but for now the main focus is KakaSaku. This is hopefully going to be around four chapters long, so I hope you enjoy chapter one of Request. (and no it's not entitled request because Danax challenged me. There's a point to my title which will be seen in the last chapter)

Sakura's fingers slowly stretched beneath the soft fabric of her pillow. She was searching for the kunai she typically had hidden beneath it. She kept her breathing even and steady so as not to alert whoever was perched outside her window. The rain beating against the window continued to pound even as the intruder slunk closer. She cursed her luck, of course someone would try and sneak up on her while she was asleep after just getting off a 32 hour hospital shift. She frowned, no one knew she was down with her shift except…

"Naruto get in here already."

She heard his deep rumbling laughter and watched as he climbed through her window and sat down at the foot of her bed. He stood up quickly once he realized he was soaking wet and rubbed the back of his head laughingly. She rolled her eyes and threw the blankets back allowing her long legs to slip from beneath them. She laughed as Naruto began to pull his long white robe off his shoulders. It made her wonder how the hell he had managed to still be stealthy with that thing on. She took it from his cold hands and walked in to her bathroom with it. She grabbed a hanger off the towel rang and slipped it on it. She gave the robe a once over before letting it hang dry in her shower. She snatched a towel off her counter before walking back in to her room. She rolled her eyes as Naruto, stripped down to his boxers, was rummaging through her dresser.

"Where's my old clothes Sakura-chan?" he whined.

Sakura threw the towel at him and nailed him in the head, "Bottom drawer."

Naruto flashed his brilliant smile at her and reached in to the bottom drawer to pull out a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt. Sakura turned on her bedside lamp and watched as her room was illuminated. She winced; she really needed to clean up her apartment. She climbed back on to her luxurious king size bed and resisted the urge to just stretch out and go back to sleep. Naruto wouldn't come to her in the middle of the night for something stupid…actually he might. She leaned against her pillows and felt the kunai prick her lower back. She grumbled and placed it on the nightstand. Naruto furiously towel dried his blonde mess and plopped down on the bed. He placed the towel on his shoulders and looked at Sakura. Said pink haired woman was giving him a curious look as he imagined the gears inside her head grinding to figure out why exactly he had shown up at her place so late.

"Naruto, why exactly are you here? I saw you only," she took the time to glance at her clock, "Three hours ago."

Naruto leaned back on his hands and stared up at the ceiling, he was having issues with figuring out how to explain his own dilemma. He had debated with his lover about telling Sakura about this, but he knew they couldn't hide this information. He was hoping it was just a rumor and not fact. He sighed and closed his eyes. "We've received wind of a rumor about Tsunade and Shizune being kidnapped because Tsunade failed to pay off her debts."

Sakura's jaw dropped, "But, she hasn't even been gone for that long! And there's no way she could be taken hostage!"

Naruto turned to look at Sakura, "Apparently this man has known her for years and she's racked up quite a debt, I'm hoping this is just a rumor but with every new bit of information I receive it's hard to deny the truth. I need you to go get them."

"How am I supposed to rescue them? This man, if he was able to capture Tsunade, won't allow me within 100 feet of where he's at."

Naruto bit his lip, "You're not going to like this…I need you to flee. I'll mark you as missing so when word of it reaches him he'll be more willing to allow you near him. Which will get you closer to Tsunade and Shizune. Of course, this means that you will have ANBU chasing you down." Sakura's jaw hit the floor as her world began to swim around her. Different scenarios were running through her head as memories of years past began to come back to the surface. She shook her head, she didn't need those memories coming back now that she had finally gotten over everything. Inner Sakura decided to make an appearance and point out the one problem with them leaving, _'He will be devastated.'_ Sakura stilled as she realized who 'he' was. Her fingers tightly grasped her bed sheet, he would be upset. More than upset. It would kill him. "I understand your reluctance—"

"No you don't…you have no clue," Sakura looked up at her best friend with barely restrained tears. "Why do I have to do this?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, "Why are you hesitant about this?"

Sakura turned away from Naruto to gaze out her window at the rainy night sky. She had to refrain from smiling as the image of silver popped in to her head. She couldn't say anything to Naruto, he would freak out. It's not like it was going anywhere anyways, it was simple relationship between them. She honestly had no clue where it was going to go. She had hopes but she didn't want to let them be crushed once again. Her heart could only have so much duct tape covering it before it would be of no use.

"Sakura, I need you to do this. You're our best medic and if anything is wrong with Tsunade or Shizune you can easily heal them while running. I trust you with bringing them back."

Sakura sighed and pushed herself out of her bed before walking over to her dresser in her night clothes. Naruto covered his eyes quickly as Sakura began stripping her underwear and shirt off. She grabbed clean clothes and slipped her compression shorts on. He peeked through his fingers to see her wrapping her chest and he let his hands fall back to his side. He watched her as she went about her routine of getting dressed. He caught the pack she threw at him and he gently placed it on the bed. She slipped a black long sleeve compression shirt out of a drawer and tossed it at him, she knew it was beginning to get cold and could only be careful. She slipped her traditional red shirt on and grabbed her gloves off the top of her dresser. Her eyes lingered on the picture sitting so perfectly on the mahogany top. So many years had passed since then, too many times had she cried over the past and now she was going to force him to face it all over again.

"Sakura, I'm sorry."

"Naruto, I'm a ninja. It's my job to support the Hokage and do what he wishes. When do I leave?"

Naruto gave a heavy sigh and held out her bag, "You leave now," he bent over and picked up his damp pants. "I have a scroll for you detailing all the information that I know so far. You'll have an hour head start, use it to your advantage. That hour starts now."

Sakura nodded and took the pack from his hand. She was yanked back in to his arms as he wrapped her in a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, refraining from wondering if she was going to come back and just taking in the moment. She patted his arm as she left his embrace. She grabbed her cloak hanging on the back of the door and dashed out the window into the rain. Naruto leaned across the bed and closed the window for her. He could only hope that she made it back.

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Naruto stood in his office staring out the windows as the rain began to creep to a crawl. His breath fogged the glass, showing a hidden message on the pane. He gave a soft smile as the heart showed for a second before it vanished. His own heart was hurting, not just from the mission he had to give Sakura, but from the fact that his loved one was nowhere near him. He straightened up when he felt the chakra signatures outside the door to the office. Sai let the three shinobi in and Naruto turned around to look at the tired faces in front of him. Kakashi gave his signature nonchalant wave but he looked distressed at being summoned at this late of an hour.

"I need you three to gather your ANBU gear, I'm reassigning you to the hunter-nin division for now," Naruto hastily said.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "What's going on?"

Naruto took a deep breath and refrained from looking at Kakashi, "Sakura has gone missing."

Kakashi's eye shot open as he looked at Naruto, he could not believe the words that had just tumbled from Naruto's lips. Neji raised an eyebrow at the statement; he would never believe that Sakura would run from the village. Kakashi shook his head, he would not believe it.

"She would never do that," he said as calmly as he could. He couldn't lose his control now. He was on the verge of attacking Naruto to find out the truth. His mind flashed back to two nights ago when he had stayed up all night talking to Sakura at the team's training grounds. Underneath his favorite tree was where they sat all night. Just talking. He knew when she had come to visit him earlier that night to invite him to dinner she had been up to something. He had been wrong and he was glad she had come to get him. Apparently they both just needed some company for once. Kakashi honestly has to admit it was then that he realized he had missed the pink haired kunoichi a little too much. He had ended up asking her out that night.

_ Kakashi looked out of the corner of his eye to see her eyes were closed. Her eyes fluttered open when she felt his gaze on her. He smiled underneath his mask when he was able to see the subtle green look back at him. He honestly had to admit that he was out of line with what he wanted to ask but it wasn't forbidden so he couldn't really give that excuse. It may be frowned upon because of the age difference but he never personally cared for all the old fogeys who looked down on him. If he had to be honest with himself, he was tired of being lonely. He knew that was the same reason she had come to him tonight. Naruto had finally achieved his dream of becoming Hokage, Sai had been appointed his assistant, Yamato was gone a lot with ANBU missions, his friends were beginning to settle down and look at retirement. While he had been drowning in missions to erase his empty life and Sakura had been absorbing herself in running the medic-nin portion of the hospital that Tsunade had left her and had no time for anyone. He had to chuckle as he realized what their lives had become. Sakura raised her delicate eyebrows at him as she watched him begin to laugh. He turned his head so he could look at her as his chuckles began to die down._

_ "Sakura?" _

_ "Kakashi?" he could hear the worry in her voice._

_ "I know this is going to be weird coming from me, but will you go out with me on Friday?" Kakashi had to refrain from laughing as Sakura went slack-jawed. He could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to figure out if what he said was actually true. It was his turn to be confused as her soft lips formed a smirk._

_ "Only if I can see your face," she said with that sultry smirk. Kakashi had no idea as to why his fingers came up to his mask and gently tugged the thin fabric down. He had never done that before, with no one. Why could he do this with her? Her small fingers slowly came up to his face. He leaned in to her touch; she was warm, unlike him. Her thumb brushed across the bottom of his scar and his eyes fluttered closed at the touch. Warm lips placed a soft kiss across the scar and his eyes shot open. She was considerably closer to him now. "Now I know I taught you how to cut the chakra off to your eye so I think this should go as well," she reached up and pushed his headband off his head. "There, that's better. I personally think you should ditch the mask."_

_ Kakashi wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her in to his lap. He had to stop himself from looking at the chest that was right in front of his chest. He tilted his hip up, "Only when you're around."_

_ "I think I can deal with that, so am I going to get a nice homemade dinner?" she asked with a gentle laugh._

_ "Whatever you wish," his hand snaked up her arm and rested behind her neck. He gently pulled forward and captured her lips._

"Kakashi, I really need you to go on this mission. I know you guys can find her. Please find her."

The three of them nodded and agreed to meet at the gates in ten minutes. They were not happy with this mission but all of them wanted to know exactly what the hell was going on.

Sakura leaned against a tree trunk and took a deep breath; she had gained a considerable amount of ground in a short amount of time. But if she knew Naruto, she knew that her trackers wouldn't be that far behind her. Her mind began to wander but she pulled the reins and brought it back. She couldn't allow herself to get distracted now, she had a mission to finish and she was going to finish it even if it cost her, her life. She unrolled a map from the inside of her cloak and moved in to the moonlight so she could see better. She held her hand over the part she needed so as to not get it wet from the remaining water that was falling from the treetops. She was going in the right direction thankfully, but she wasn't that far from where she needed to be. Another day and she'd be there, she honestly had to thank Naruto for telling her what village this man was holing up in. Her train of thought was shattered when she heard a very familiar howl off in the distance. She spun around in the direction it came from and heard another one. She had spent too many years listening to Pakkun talking to not know that howl by heart. She cursed her luck, she knew Kakashi would pull out all the stops to try and get to her faster than she could move. She rolled the map back up and took off in the direction she needed to go. She dropped down off the tree branch as a shuriken whizzed past her head. She tucked her body in to a roll and immediately got back up. She checked her surroundings before pushing away from the tree line. She growled as she realized she had walked right in to an open grove, she was vulnerable. Her body stiffened as she side stepped the kunai attack. She pulled her own out and placed it in front of her body in a defensive motion. Her heart stopped as she recognized the mask. She threw the kunai to the ground, she could never hurt him. Sakura raised her fists up and got in a fighting position, she had to mentally thank Lee for teaching her new fighting styles. She honestly did not want to harm Kakashi, only incapacitate him.

Sakura concentrated and forced chakra to her elbow and made the first move as she threw an elbow at his face. Kakashi simply ducked beneath her arm and tackled her around the waist. Sakura's mind clicked as she realized what exactly she could do next. His weight has directly above her hips. She smirked and bucked her hips up. It pitched him forward and she head butted him on the way. The mask audibly cracked. Her tiny frame shrimped out from beneath his legs as he tried sitting back up from the massive headache he now had. Her gloved hands gripped his wrists tight enough to cause pain and pulled one toward her shoulder. At the same time she lifted her hips and wrapped her toned legs in to a figure four around his neck. She pushed the arm she had to the side and reached up to grab his neck. She whispered an apology and she forced his own neck against his forearm. She counted until his movements stopped and she knew he was unconscious. Sakura released him and scooted back a few feet, just in case he was faking. When he didn't move Sakura jumped in to action.

Sakura pulled some wire out of her pocket and tossed it on the ground next to a tree. She lifted his larger frame off the ground and pushed it against the tree. She bent down and managed to wrap the wire around him. Once she got the first wire in place she wrapped around him nine more times and infused her chakra in to the wire so he wouldn't be able to break it. She reached up and pushed the mask to the side. Now she just had to wait for him to come back to reality.

She didn't actually have to wait long for him to come back to. His eyes shot open as he realized he couldn't move and glared at her. He could not believe that he had let her get to him the way she had. He was supposed to be a strong shinobi not hindered by anything, yet he couldn't deny this woman. He would never be able to hurt her. But she had managed to hurt him.

"Why Sakura? Why did you leave?"

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Fluffystwin: Mwuahahahahaha! A cliffhanger! Now the reason I actually have an exact amount of times she wrapped him to a tree is because I challenged my lovely artist friend of mine, Jocelyn, to draw this scene before it was even written. She helped me come up with this scene and all the details are in accordance of the drawing, which will be sent to Danax. Now I want people's opinion on this, I'm open to any opinions just let there be some constructive criticism in there if you must criticize. I hope you all will come back and read chapter two when I put it up. Thanks for reading and review guys!


	2. Chapter 2

Fluffystwin: Hey everybody, here's chapter 2 of Request. I told Danax I'd get it up sometime today and I have achieved this goal! Yay! I hope you all like chapter two!

Sakura bit her lip and looked at the ground, she wasn't allowed to tell him, "Please Kakashi, just don't follow me."

"I'm going to follow you no matter how far you run! I am not losing anyone else!"

Sakura's lip quivered as she looked at him. She could see the emotions in his eyes, her heart clenched tightly. She recognized those emotions, the idea of leaving him made her sick to her stomach. She could never willingly leave him but she had to, she needed to save her shishou. She spun around on her heel to leave him tied to the tree.

"You can't leave me! You're the only person I have left!" he yelled at her. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut tightly to refrain from letting the tears create trails down her cheeks. "I will never forgive you." Sakura spun around and pointed a finger at him.

"You cannot do this to my already fragile heart Kakashi. I have to do this, please forgive me," she placed a hand on his clothed cheek. Her lips tugged upwards in to a weak smile as her body leaned forward. Kakashi wished she had pulled his mask down as she placed a warm kiss across his clothed lips. How he utterly detested the mask now. Sakura gave him a watery eyed smile before spinning around and launching herself in to the treetops. She had to stop herself from turning back around when he screamed her name. She clenched her fist and set her determined eyes on the path ahead of her. She would fulfill this mission and come back to him in one piece.

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Her weak fingers brushed across the cool surface of the water the stand owner sat in front of her. He gave her a smile and turned back to the rest of his customers. She couldn't even manage a smile as she slowly sipped the water, willing the ache in her parched throat to die down. It had taken another day to track down exactly where the hideout for this organization was. Another day of grueling travel in a forest while evading the howls of Kakashi's ninken. A day of ducking in to random houses to listen for information pertaining to this organization. From what she had gathered it was more of an elaborate crime syndicate than anything else. The villagers she had slyly asked refused to talk about the people behind the scenes. Sakura cursed as she set the now empty glass on the table, she was getting no where. This was becoming more of a pain than she had bargained for. She needed to get in to the inner workings of the group now, her shishou's time was still counting down. Her eyes widened as she felt the familiar sharp point of a kunai be pressed in to her lower back.

"Well looks like we found our little chicky-la-la that's been asking about us. Follow us, and don't make a scene or we will finish it for you."

Sakura smiled at the owner and thanked him for the water as she slid off the stool. She glanced at the owner to see him trying not to look at whoever was behind her. She didn't know who had her but she knew this would be her only chance at getting in. How the hell they had managed to sneak up behind her she would never understand. A woman with long blue hair swept up in to a high ponytail shoved past her. Sakura recognized the hang signal the woman flashed before crossing the street with Sakura and whoever was forcing her forward. The blue hair was familiar to Sakura, she had seen it before. She began going through every ninja that was in the bingo book, it didn't take her long to remember the hair. The woman turning to look at her helped to. Sakura gulped, she was in deep now. What she assumed were Two S-Class missing nin were escorting her to a situation she now had to reevalutate. The kunai from her back vanished as a blond haired beauty stepped around her to pull out a set of keys to an immaculate looking two story house. The blue haired once shoved her inside as soon as the door opened. The women closed the door behind her and watched as the blonde opened a hatch in the floor.

"In you go princess."

Sakura followed the two women down in to a stone tunnel, with the hatch slamming shut above her. She was beginning to not like her odds at escaping with Tsunade and Shizune now. The two women were apparently not worried about her fleeing as they walked side by side ahead of her. It gave Sakura the opportunity to study the two better. The blue haired beauty was a couple of inches taller than the blond; her gait was one of pure confidence. There was no hesitation in her steps, Sakura could see this woman was entirely comfortable in her own skin and had no issues with throwing her weight around to intimidate. The blonde was a different story; she had a more elegant appearance and appeared to have more restraint than her partner. Sakura snapped her gaze away from the two women as they reached the end of the hall. They opened the double doors and Sakura had to refrain from taking a step back. Apparently she had to meet the man she would soon have to trick now. She grimaced as she took in his appearance, he wasn't what she was expecting at all. He was tall, probably not that much taller than the blue haired beauty, and appeared to have been doing heavy labor most of his life. His skin was tanned and weathered looking with bulk showing through his thin clothes. Sakura began calculating different ways to end this man's life. Every scenario she was coming up with was not turning out very well especially when she added in the two women behind her.

"Well if it isn't the most famous pink haired medic," the man said with a chuckle. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes as her fingers twitched, begging to wrap around the man's thick neck. "What does it matter to you?"

The man chuckled at her act, "We could have use of you here but only if you tell me why you are here."

Sakura smirked, "I was told that I had to be married off to someone I didn't want to be so as to secure a political alliance. My skills are not of the domestic sort, as I'm sure you already know Mr?"

"You can call me Keiho, I'm your new boss. Rei, Zeherah, take her to one of the available rooms we have. Make sure she's welcome, I'll stop by and collect you at dinner time my lovely." Sakura tried not to stick her tongue out in disgust at his tone. The blue haired beauty, Rei, roughly grabbed Sakura's elbow and wheeled her around to take her down a side hallway. Sakura counted the steps from one hallway to another. She wanted to be able to find her way out, though she probably would have issues with that with as many guards as there were posted around the place. All the guards were male, muscular and had little to no apparent chakra abilities. She knew that the two strongest people standing in her way were her personal guards. She cursed her luck, of course they would assign the toughest most badass bitches to her. Rei pulled a set of keys out from her back pocket and slipped the key in to a heavy wooden door off to the side of the hall. She walked in and held the door open for the two. Sakura stepped inside and eyed the two women. Shock went through her as Zeherah quickly closed and locked the door and Rei tossed the keys on the bed. Rei pointed a finger at the opposing wall where a window sat at the top of the wall. The window was barely big enough for sunlight to filter through at the right angle. Sakura spent ten minutes watching them carefully sweep the room, looking for anything that might give them away. Zeherah nodded, her blonde curls bouncing across her cheeks. Rei sighed and turned back to Sakura.

"You're here to save them correct?" she bluntly asked in a hushed tone.

"Who are you exactly?" Sakura asked as she looked between the two women.

"Right now your only hope of escaping this place if you are here to rescue them."

Sakura nodded, "Why does he have them?"

Zeherah shrugged, "We don't know, he doesn't tell us these things. We are only hired shinobi, we aren't involved in the politics of his organization. The major question is do you have reinforcements coming for you?"

Sakura shook her head as her eyes closed, trying to fight away the tears that threatened to fall. "No, this is an off the books mission."

Rei rolled her eyes and Zeherah chuckled at the ignorant pink haired beauty, "How many hunter-nin to you have tracking you?"

Sakura's eyes widened as the question sank in, "You've got to be shitting me," Sakura let out a laugh as she smirked, "I have three following after me. Three of the best in the village."

"Good, you'll need them," Rei said as she walked across the room back towards the door to listen for people.

Zeherah smiled at her, "We can help you get your friends out of here and hold of Keiho's men for as long as we can. How far behind you are they?"

Sakura bit her lip as she mentally calculated the distance, "Maybe a day."

Rei nodded, "Good, they're moving fast enough that we can strike by tonight. Keiho intends to take you to your friends and have you heal them tonight. We will be in the room as well. While we take care of Keiho and his men you will have to heal them enough so that way they can at least walk as fast as they can away from here. We can help you leave, but we would prefer not to. We are missing-nin and would like to stay that way, I'm not very fond of the idea of rotting in a cell in the basement of the ANBU headquarters. Sorry, but at the first sight of your team, we are gone."

"Where are you guys from? I'm well respected and I'm the Hokage's best friend, I can make sure you won't be arrested," Sakura urged.

Zeherah smiled and patted her shoulder, "You're still naïve, we have committed more crimes in our lives than the records can keep straight. We would like to stay hidden if you don't mind."

Rei leaned away from the door, "We need to go there's another guard coming down the hall." Zeherah tossed her the keys and headed towards the door. "We will come back at dinner with food for you and finish laying out the plan. Don't try anything stupid at the moment. Just wait for us," Rei said harshly before she slipped out the door. Zeherah gave a curt nod before slipping out the door as well. Sakura flinched when the door slammed shut and the lock click in to place. She sighed heavily and plopped on the mattress behind her. She leaned forward on her knees and put her head in her hands, this was going to be a bigger pain in the ass than she originally thought.

Kakashi let his right leg dangle off the large branch they had stopped to rest on as he continued to flip through the well worn black book he had in his hands. He knew something was off about this entire thing, it didn't sit well with him. Sakura fleeing would never happen, he knew her too well. He tensed as he sensed another presence nearby but relaxed when Neji landed on the branch in front of him. Neji pushed his mask up to look at his team leader. He quirked an eyebrow as he saw the black book open on Kakashi's knee. Shikamaru landed on the branch next to him, without making a sound.

"Kakashi, we've been able to find out some information," he said calmly.

Neji nodded in agreement, "Apparently Sakura has been in the village, a vendor remembered her pink hair."

"The only problem is that two women came and promptly took her away. The vendor was rather reluctant to tell us anything besides a basic description of them. One was a curly blonde with chocolate brown eyes and the other was a blue haired woman with sharp blue eyes and a scar going down the right side of her neck," Shikamaru said finally as he sat down on the branch. He was itching for a cigarette but knew he shouldn't.

Kakashi didn't acknowledge the comment as he began to flip towards the back of the book. He knew the woman with blue haired but was desperately hoping that it wasn't who he thought it was. He cursed his luck when he came up to the updated picture of her. A large angry looking scar ran down the right side of her tanned neck, beginning by her ear and continuing to her collar bone. He held the book up as both the women were side by side in the book. Neji crossed his legs as he sat down across from Kakashi. His long fingers grasped the book and pulled it closer to look at the images. There was very little data about the women to help them. Shikamaru looked at their leader and could see the wheels cranking beneath the silver hair.

"Is there something we should know about them?"

"Rei Narimuko and Zeherah Narino are two S-Class missing-nin from Kumogakure. I've run across Rei once before, we ended our fight in a draw. Her partner I don't know much about. She came to get Rei during our fight but didn't fight me. She probably thought I was too weak to fight anymore. Those two are a powerful duo from what I've heard, they've been able to amass quite a fortune from off the books missions. Are they the hired guns this time around?"

"Yes, they work for a man named Keiho who is the leader of a crime syndicate based in the village. His reach stretches from Konoha to Ame, but it appears as if he is too confident in his abilities as those two women as his only suitable defense," Neji stated.

"Don't underestimate these women Neji, they can make this even more difficult for us. Now why does this Keiho guy have Sakura?"

Sakura grasped the kunai underneath the plush pillow as she heard voices outside the room. Her body tensed as a key slid in to the lock. Her posture relaxed as blue hair was the first thing she saw, but she didn't release the kunai in her hand. She may be willing to work with them but that didn't mean she trusted them. Rei and Zeherah promptly entered the room and slammed it shut behind them. Zeherah stood near the door as Rei lifted her shirt to adjust a ninjato strapped to her back. Sakura sat up and slipped the kunai back in to it's pouch.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Rei sent Sakura a scathing look, "Your team wasn't stealthy enough. Keiho knows and it summoning you know to heal your friends so he can move them. You better pray to whatever gods you worship for your friends to get here fast, or you won't be able to escape."

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Fluffystwin: And yes I left it at a cliffhanger, everyone can handle the suspense for a little bit longer. So what is everybody's thoughts on it?


	3. Chapter 3

Fluffystwin: Well here is chapter three at your disposal. Yes it is longer and yes it is badass. Also, happy birthday Danax! Here's your present! I hope you enjoyed this challenge you gave me. I certainly have and I think I might dabble in KakaSaku just a bit more ;)

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Rei sent Sakura a scathing look, "Your team wasn't stealthy enough. Keiho knows and it summoning you know to heal your friends so he can move them. You better pray to whatever gods you worship for your friends to get here fast, or you won't be able to escape." Zeherah gave Rei a look that Sakura didn't understand the meaning behind. "Tch, fine," Rei ran a hand through her long hair, "Stick with us because there's going to be a fight." Zeherah grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her off the bed and out the door. Sakura looked over her shoulder to see Rei checking all her weapons, she let out a gasp as Rei looked back up at her. Her eyes were no longer the bright cerulean blue that reminded her of her best friend. They were black. Completely black. No white nor blue remained to be seen. Sakura turned back to Zeherah as she heard the sound of metal scraping against the inside of a sheath.

"Rei." Sakura looked behind her when Zeherah muttered that to see Rei's image flicker and disappear. Her eyes widened, the woman was fast. She jumped when a body fell from the ceiling with a shuriken embedded in his forehead. Sakura looked up to see Rei balancing along the rafters above them as she followed at the same pace as them. Zeherah led her out in to the large hall she had been in only a few hours before. It was crawling with Keiho's men. They all stopped to look at Zeherah and Sakura. Sakura looked out of the corner of her eye to see Rei continuing to slink along the beams in the rafters. Sakura looked down the path Rei was taking and had to prevent herself from showing any signs of shock. Keiho was unprotected. Rei was making her way straight to him. Sakura clenched her fist as she prepared herself for a fight, inside she was eagerly awaiting punching Keiho in the face. Zeherah lessened her grip on Sakura's wrist as she stood to look at Keiho.

"Brought her just like you asked."

"Why thank you Zeherah, where is your lovely partner?"

"Stayed behind to check the room in case pinkie here tried anything explosive," Zeherah said with a smirk. Her smirk almost dropped from her lips when she realized Rei had stopped moving on the rafters. She took a chance and looked and felt her heart stop. Three masked men stood on a wooden beam across from Rei. Sakura saw that Zeherah's attention was elsewhere and followed her line of sight. She quickly made a handsignal hoping to catch their attention. She saw them remove their hands from their weapons and allowed Rei to pass by them. "By the way Keiho," Zeherah mentioned as she began to reach in to a pouch on her left hip. Sakura took a step back as she recognized an exploding tag. "Go to hell."

Keiho gave her an incredulous look before his eyes went wide. He looked up, never getting the chance to regret that decision as Rei impaled her ninjato straight through him. She took a deep breath to steady herself and harshly yanked the blade from his body. She was about to turn away when she saw the glint on his chest and her face turned in to one of pure hatred. She reached forward and yanked the necklace off him. Her thumb brushed the blood off the small locket as it sat bloodied in her hand. She crouched when Zeherah released the exploding tag sending Keiho's forces into a panic. Two of the masked men dropped down next to her as Zeherah and Sakura ran over to her as well. Zeherah growled at the now dead man in his chair.

"Did you have to make it easy for him?" she asked with a guttural growl at the end of the sentence.

"I would be reprimanded in the afterlife if I had made it to excruciatingly painful, besides I didn't want to damage the locket," Rei said as she slipped the small gold locket in to her pocket. "Where's your team leader?" she asked the two men.

Kakashi slipped his mask off and on to his head as he walked to stand beside Sakura, "Been a long time Rei."

"Well if I had known you were the one following the little princess I would have left earlier. Your friends are down that hallway, third door on the right. Nice working with you princess," Rei gave a smirk as she nodded to Sakura and wiped the blood off the ninjato on to Keiho's pants. Zeherah gave Rei a bright smile as she threw another exploding tag at the men that were now trying to attack them. Kakashi grabbed Sakura's elbow and dragged her down another hallway. Sakura shook her head and turned away from the sight of Rei and Zeherah fighting so she could find her shishou and sister. Neji kicked open the third door on the right and him and Shikamaru took care of the two guards in the room. Sakura's gasp was heard as she rushed to her shishou and Shizune. The brown haired beauty was the worst of the two and Sakura was beginning to worry that they may not have made it in time for her. Tsunade was not that much better but she knew her shishou would survive the travel to at least a village close by.

"Kakashi, we have to get to someplace close by. I can't heal them and run away at the same time. They're both in really bad shape."

"I can help," Zeherah said as she rushed in and picked up Tsunade with ease. "You can't stay here and babble anymore, you have to go. We can get you to a nearby village to where you can work on them but that's as far as we go."

Sakura saw the sincerity in Zeherah's eyes and nodded in agreement as she picked up Shizune. She cradled the woman she called a sister close to her, she didn't want to lose her. Kakashi and the other two formed around the two women so they would be able to protect them. Zeherah gave a sharp whistle and Rei dropped down behind Sakura next to Neji. She nodded to him and he shifted position to allow her in to the group. Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he noticed the hallway in front of them was empty, only littered with dead and dying men. Rei had improved since he had last seen her. It took them another twenty minutes to find a way out of the maze of corridors in the place. They had only run across a few more squads of men with Rei jumping in front of the group to take care of the men quickly. Sakura had been doing everything she could for Shizune while she ran but her expression was beginning to be more and more grim the more she realized that she couldn't do anything for her sister at the moment. Rei snatched a katana from the grip of a dead man's hand as they took up the stairs to get out of the hideout. Kakashi pushed the door open to see they were out in the forest. Rei jumped past him to take the lead so as to get them where they needed to go. Kakashi dropped to the back of the pack and ran beside Sakura and watched as she tried to heal Shizune. He cursed himself as he saw the tear slide down her cheek, he knew they had been too slow.

Rei led the now exhausted team in to the village they had been running towards for the last six hours. She pushed the chakra in to her legs and jumped up on to the second floor balcony of a building. The rest of the team followed her example and watched as she pounded on the glass sliding door. A light flipped on in the room as a woman hurriedly ran over to them as she tried to slip a shirt on over her head. She unlocked the door and slid it open and helped Zeherah place Tsunade on the couch. She immediately led Sakura in to the kitchen and slammed the kitchen door behind them. Shikamaru had enough sense to close the sliding glass door behind them. Rei dropped her weapons and walked over to a closet next to the front door. Zeherah shook her head as she bumped her partner out of the way and reached for the top shelf where a med kit was. She tossed it on the coffee table in the living room and gestured for the boys to go ahead if they needed to. She made Rei sit on a barstool as the blue haired beauty lifted her shirt to reveal a nasty gash over her hips. Zeherah stopped as she tried to patch up Rei when Tsunade began to move. She rushed over to the blonde woman and placed light blue glowing hands over the woman's head.

"When did you learn medical techniques?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know much, but I can find out if anything is internally wrong with her so our savior Daniela can patch her up if need be. Will someone patch Rei up before she runs off?" Zeherah asked without even looking. Rei stopped in her tracks as she tried to sneak off down the hallway. Neji nodded and pulled the woman back in to the living room so he could patch up her side. "Your former hokage should be fine, I'm more worried about her friend. Keiho had been merciless on her, trying to exact information."

"What did Keiho want?" Kakashi finally asked.

Zeherah shrugged, "We were not quite sure, and personally we didn't want to know. We were only the hired guns…."

"Zeherah….where's Haru?" he calmly asked so as not to freak her out.

Zeherah sighed and stood up, her eyes bore in to Kakashi's. "On the outskirts of the village, beneath her favorite tree." That was all she said before she walked in to the kitchen to see if she could help the two women. Kakashi looked over his shoulder to see Rei fiddling with the locket that she took from Keiho and he knew right then and there what had happened over the years.

Three hours later Sakura, Zeherah, and Daniela walked out of the kitchen. Sakura's first instinct was to go right towards Kakashi and wrap her arms tightly around him. She couldn't hold it anymore as she cried in to his outfit. He looked up and saw Zeherah shake her head, Shizune had been beyond their help. Zeherah and Shikamaru picked up Tsunade and they carried her in to a room down the hallway. Neji nodded to Kakashi, knowing that Sakura needed alone time and he helped Rei off the barstool and back to her own room. Kakashi leaned down and kissed the top of Sakura's head. Her fingers dug in to the material of his shirt as she cried her heart out. She hadn't been able to save the woman she had grown to call a sister. Kakashi's arms squeezed her tightly and he pulled her over to the couch. He stretched out on the couch and pulled her against him. His hand wormed its way in to her hair and messed with the pink strands and he held her close while she cried. He would not leave her alone this night, nor would he ever leave her alone again.

"Kakashi….thank you for coming to get me," she managed to say in between her sobbing.

"I will never leave you Sakura, you should know this by now."

"Thank you for being here, just thank you."

Kakashi pulled her close and kissed her temple, "You don't have to thank me for anything. I will always be there for you."

Sakura sat in the kitchen drinking the coffee Daniela had given her after she had taken a shower and changed. The petite blonde had been nice enough to give her a change of clothes so she wouldn't have to look at blood anymore. They had sent word for a team to come and get Shizune's body so she could receive a proper burial and they were going to wait for the team to come. Sakura sighed heavily as her mind began to wonder to the past as she remembered all the things that Shizune had taught her. She knew that it shouldn't affect her so much, but the thought of losing a patient was bad enough. The thought of losing someone close to her that had been her patient was even worse. She jumped when she felt a large hand cover her's and she looked up to see Kakashi giving her his patented eye crinkle. Rei and Zeherah had been able to find enough androgynous clothing for the three men so they wouldn't have to wear their ANBU uniforms. So now, Kakashi sat next to her in a pair of sweat pants with a lovely tight tank top with a mask that Rei had attached to it just for him. Sakura knew that eventually she would have to thank the two women that were sitting in the living room but was a little hesitant to. Kakashi gave her hand a squeeze and he looked around to make sure no one was nearby and pulled the mask down. His lips were set in to a small smile, which only made Sakura's heart flutter. She was truly thankful that he had come after her even after she had beaten him and tied him to a tree. She leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his lips.

"I'm glad you didn't turn around after I tied you to that tree," she said with a small smile, it was the biggest she could muster at the moment.

Kakashi brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, "I was more convinced than ever to drag your ass back to Konoha then. I knew I couldn't let you just run off without our date."

"Kind of screwed that up huh?" Sakura said.

"Nah, just more or less delayed it. Daniela does run a bar, so we could always have a night out tonight," Kakashi suggested as he brushed his thumb across her knuckles.

"I would love that Kakashi," she needed an escape form everything. She raised an eyebrow at him as he brought his mask back up to cover his face. She turned around in her seat to see Zeherah standing in the doorway giving them a gentle smile.

"We are going to leave soon, so your other team doesn't run across us. We may trust you but we know that trust is tentative and we'd prefer not to go to jail."

Kakashi stood up, "Don't go, we won't try anything. I'd actually like to bring you back to Konoha, not as missing-nin, but as allies."

"Fuck that ally shit—" Rei's protest was silenced by a quickly thrown book thanks to Zeherah. Zeherah nodded her thanks and walked back in to the living room and talked in hushed tones to Rei. Sakura gave Kakashi a questioning look. He simply shrugged and took a swig from her coffee. The rest of the day they simply spent lounging around, eventually they wandered in to the living room where the four shinobi were currently vegging. Though at this point it had progressed to who would win, Rei or Neji. Zeherah was egging on the entire argument as Rei was actually logically discussing why she could beat Neji in a fair fight. Sakura shook her head and she tapped Zeherah on the shoulder.

"I have an odd question for you and I was kind of hoping you could help me."

"Sure princess, what do you need?" Zeherah said as she leaned backwards on to her hands.

"I am wanting to get my mind off everything and I want to impress Kakashi," Sakura guiltily admitted.

"Girl you just have to stand in front of him naked and it should work," Zeherah said with a laugh but stopped when she realized Sakura was serious. The blonde groaned, "Alright princess let's find you something to wear."

Rei perked up at that, "Wait I thought we weren't going to be doing anything crazy tonight?"

"That's what I thought," Zeherah hollered from her room. Rei stumbled off the couch in her hurry to get down the hallway. Neji and Shikamaru looked at each other and simply shrugged, they weren't going to question anything, they were already out of their element. While in Zeherah's room, Sakura was out of her element as well. Considering Zeherah was throwing miniscule clothing at her to try on. Rei laughed and picked up one dress and held it out to Sakura, she nodded towards the bathroom across the hall and Sakura nodded. While Zeherah continued to rant and rave about outfits and what went with what Sakura tried on the dress Rei had picked out. She had to admit the blue haired beauty had good taste. It was a simple black dress that hugged her curves just right while in the front in the middle was green fabric that had black straps crossing in the front in a corset design. Sakura looked at herself in the mirror and smirked, maybe this would be a good distraction for her. A light knock was heard on the door and Sakura opened it to allow Rei in. The blue haired woman held out a pair of shoes and closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry princess, if we had known anything about their situation we would have tried something earlier."

Sakura gave her a sympathetic smile, "No, it's not your fault. You helped us get out of there and my shishou is still alive. We did well in my opinion."

Rei nodded, "Alright, well then let's get you dressed up for Hatake."

"Is it that obvious?" Sakura asked with a blush staining her porcelain cheeks.

"No, I just have a vagina," Rei said with a wink as she exited the bathroom. Sakura laughed and attempted to get the killer looking heels on. She peeked down and realized they were at least five inches. She was praying that she wasn't going to snap her ankles in these if she wore them. She peeked out of the bathroom and dashed across the hall to show the girls. She had to stop her jaw from dropping as Rei was changing in to a mini skirt in front of her. Rei winked at her and slipped on a zip up halter top. She pulled on the top and pulled her bra up and slipped her ankle boots on. She waved and headed out of the room, walking past the two boys with a little extra sway in her hips as she descended down the stairs in to the bar. Zeherah ran down the hallway and looked at the boys, "Is Kakashi here?" They shook their heads and she beckoned them to follow her. They did and found Sakura sitting in a chair trying to get the shoes on her feet fastened. "You two need to get dressed, we're gonna have some fun tonight."

A few hours later, Sakura was finally ready to head downstairs with Shikamaru who had been waiting on her. Rei and Zeherah had vanished to help Daniela set things up downstairs for the night. Eventually Neji left as well so he could be doing something. Shikamaru smiled at her and let her go down the stairs first. She took a deep breath as she started hearing music and shook her head as she heard Daniela screaming at something. She opened the door to the bar to find Rei dancing on the bar with a shot glass in one hand and Neji yelling at her to get off the bar. Sakura's eyes widened as Rei downed the shot and tossed it to Daniela, who expertly caught the glass and set it down. Rei hopped over the bar and winked at Sakura as she slipped through the people to the stage. Neji shook his head and nodded at them. Shikamaru pointed over in to a corner where Kakashi was at. Sakura tugged on the hem of her dress and walked over in his direction after sparring Rei and Zeherah a glance as they simply went to work on stage. She had to laugh when she heard a guitar play a familiar tune. What better way to get the man of her dream's attention than this song?

"_My girlfriend's a dick magnet, my girlfriend's gotta have it. She's hot, can't stop, up on stage, doing shots/Tip the man, he'll ring the bell, get her drunk, she'll scream like hell/Dirty girl, getting down, dance with guys from outta town/Grab her ass, acting tough, mess with her, she'll fuck you up/No one really knows if she's drunk or if she's stoned/But she's coming back to my place tonight,_" Rei winked at Sakura as she continued to sing.

Kakashi looked up from his porn to see something that was infinitely more sexy than any of his porn novels. Sakura. In a tight skimpy outfit. Dancing seductively not too far from him. The only problem he was having with this was the man dancing with Sakura. He growled and tossed his porn on the table as he marched straight over to her. He completely ignored the man as his arm slipped around her slender waist and pulled her against him. He bent down enough to whisper to her, "Are you trying to get that poor man killed?" Sakura bit her lip and twirled around in his arms so her back was against him and ground in to him. Kakashi's grip on her tightened and he tilted her head to the side to expose her neck. "You're in trouble now," he whispered as he pulled his mask down and grazed his teeth across her delicate skin. Sakura's knees turned to jello at that moment and would have fallen to the ground if Kakashi wasn't holding her. Rei raised her eyebrows at Neji as his jaw was on the floor. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and his jaw almost hit the floor as Rei started unzipping her top on stage. Daniela cursed as she slammed down a beer mug and ran her finger across her throat to cut Rei to cut it out. Rei shrugged and put her hands back on her guitar.

Kakashi spun Sakura back around to face him and he bent down to kiss her passionately, "You don't have to dress like this to get my attention."

"But it's fun, besides I don't think it's going to be a problem trying to distract you from your porn any longer," Sakura said with a smirk as her arms wrapped around his neck. "I don't think you'll ever need those again."

Kakashi gave her a devilish smirk that sent heat pooling in her lower body, "Oh I don't doubt that."

Epilogue

Kakashi pulled Sakura in to his lap and she eeped in shock and tried not to drop the alcohol in her hands. Kurenai laughed at the young woman who had managed to capture the elusive copy-nin's heart. It had been five months since that lovely mission. Five months of blissful happiness between the two shinobi. Sakura had managed to convince Kakashi to move in to her larger apartment so she wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. Now she knew he had food and wasn't reading porn all day, so she was very happy that he was going to at least live a little bit longer thanks to her. Kakashi nuzzled her neck and she gave him his drink. Gai was off saying how it was so nice to finally see Kakashi caving in to his springtime of youth and accepting that it was time to date. Sakura rolled her eyes and Genma simply shook his head. Kurenai patted Sakura's shoulder as she knew that their relationship would still be a hot topic for a very long while. Sakura smiled as she felt Kakashi's arms wrap tightly around her. She never wanted to leave his embrace.

"Well it seems our little princess is happy with her prince now."

Sakura turned to her right and gave a bright smile as she saw Rei and Zeherah standing in the bar…with Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji…with restraints hanging off their wrists. Zeherah excitedly waved at Sakura. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at his former student when he spied the restraints. Naruto looked pissed.

"They managed to attack my team as I was traveling back from Suna! And she," he pointed to Rei, "Practically tried molesting Neji!"

Rei smirked, "The man's hot, who wouldn't molest that ass?"

Sakura did a face palm as Kakashi groaned while the rest of the table stared on in shock. Sakura stood up and patted Naruto's shoulder, "The restraints aren't needed Naruto, they aren't going to go anywhere." She reached around her blonde friend and sliced Zeherah's restraints with some well placed chakra. She turned to Rei and sliced the restraints off the woman as well.

Rei grinned, "Thank fucking god! I've been wanting to do this for the past few hours!" Rei flicked Neji's ANBU mask off his face and pulled the Hyuuga in for a kiss.

"Go my young friend! Experience your youth!" Gai cheered.

Naruto looked thoroughly confused as he stared at the scene. Sakura laughed and bumped Naruto's hip with her's. "Alright Mister Hokage, I can deal with these two lunatics go find your man. Actually if I'm correct, he's right over there," Naruto looked over in the direction that Sakura was pointing and saw Kiba walking towards him. Naruto didn't need to be told twice as he headed towards his lover.

Rei leaned over Sakura's shoulder as Zeherah walked over to the bar with Shikamaru, "So princess, I think you and I should talk about your little growing problem," she said as she placed a slender hand over Sakura's flat stomach. "You can't hide it for long."

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Fluffystwin: Once again happy birthday Danax! And yes I left an opening in case I get responses telling me to continue. I actually don't mind continuing but only if you want to know what happens to our little princess and her prince. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Fluffystwin: Well, this has turned in to my most popular fanfic…how I don't know. It is quickly beginning to catch up to my Rainbow Lining in hits and I haven't even finished Rainbow Lining yet. Since apparently there's a demand for this kind of fanfic I have decided to continue this story. So now you will have (hopefully) weekly updates. This will not be a very long story. I personally do not want to go past ten chapters, but everyone should be content with the length of the chapters. Now, on to chapter four of Request…

It had been three weeks since Rei had confronted Sakura about her little…problem. Three weeks of arguing with Naruto about Rei and Zeherah's fate, then the two women hounding her about talking to Kakashi, and finally having to deal with Team 10 and Team Gai hounding her about who exactly the two women were. Sakura had a migraine and she really didn't want to head to the two women's place but she needed to talk to them. She ran along the rooftops as fast as she could, she really wanted to get out from under the blinding sun. Her footsteps didn't make a sound as she dropped down off the roof of the townhouse apartment the two women bought together. Sakura was still amazed at how much money the two had been able to acquire, to put it bluntly their great-great grandchildren wouldn't have to worry about money. If Naruto put them to work in ANBU, they could only add more to that. She slid the key in to the slot and pushed the door open. She kicked her shoes off at the door and traipsed across the hardwood floor. A glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol sat on the dining room table waiting for her. She gave a small smile and quickly took the offering. She looked over her shoulder as she continued to drain the glass to see Rei walking down the stairs while braiding her wet hair.

"Hello Sakura how's our favorite pregnant kunoichi?"

Sakura spluttered with the remaining water. Zeherah appeared out of nowhere and caught the glass as it fell from her fingers. Sakura began coughing as some of the water went down the wrong pipe. Zeherah rubbed her back while Rei snickered before walking past the two to the large living room. The blonde ushered Sakura in to the living room where she got a nice view of Rei straddling a blushing Neji. Shikamaru gave a lazy wave from his window bench perch. She was furious with the two; they had been ignoring their teams so they wouldn't have to answer questions and so she had been bombarded with the questions.

"You two need to stop hiding!" she yelled at them.

Neji's face, if possible, got brighter as he realized someone else was there and he tried to slink farther in to the cushions of the couch. Rei smirked and leaned on the back of the couch to stare at the furious woman. Shikamaru stretched and swung his legs over the side of the bench, he really didn't want to talk about this with anyone.

"You do realize that there's a reason we are hiding. Neji and I can be kicked out of our clans for attempting to have relationships with these two. Plus, Ino is just fucking annoying, you know that. Gai and Lee just sprout their fountain of youth crap which is about as bad as Ino."

"Wait, you can be punished for dating them?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Yes, if it is not an approved relationship any clan can excommunicate family," Rei stated as if it was the simplest thing in the entire world.

"She doesn't come from a shinobi clan, hun."

"Oh, then you know nothing about the inner workings of a shinobi clan. Shame, it's some pretty juicy stuff," Rei said with a shrug. "I'm not really that worried about the Nara clan, they seem to be pretty laid back. I think as long as that one," she jerked her thumb towards the lazy ninja at the window, "Reproduces then it shouldn't be a problem. The Hyuuga clan is going to be the problem." Rei said as she pushed the headband off Neji's forehead, "Though we might have a slight advantage," she softly said as her fingers traced the symbol on his forehead.

"Why will my father be upset?"

Rei eeped as she was thrown off Neji, who hastily retied his headband as he jumped off the couch. Everyone went still as the slowly turned to look at whom just silently entered the house. Sakura groaned, she shouldn't have told Hinata that she was gonna meet her nearby. This was now going to be her fault; she could see the explosions now. Zeherah cast a wary glance to Rei, yes the two were very comfortable living in Konoha, but that didn't mean they exactly trusted the other shinobi in the village. Hinata walked over to stand next to Sakura and let her hand rest on Sakura's lower back. The pinkette tensed as she felt chakra enter her body. She cursed aloud, another person she'd have to bribe to keep silent. Neji stepped around the couch and didn't look at Rei as she pulled herself back on to the couch.

"Neji-nii-san, is this where you've been all this time?" Hinata calmly asked.

Neji dropped his head, "Yes, Hinata-sama."

Zeherah inched away from the Hyuuga heiress; she really didn't want to be by her. She knew what those delicate looking hands could do to her body. Hinata gave Neji a soft smile, "I'm glad to see you're okay, but my father isn't so happy that you've been gone for so long."

"HINATA! Where the fuck are you!"

"Shut up Kiba, you shouldn't be so loud."

Hinata spun around to see Akamaru bound in to the house and happily trot over to her. Kiba and Shino walked in to the house, Shino was polite enough to shut the door behind them. Rei's eyes shifted to a spot in the living room nobody could see before glancing back at Akamaru. Suddenly she vaulted over the couch and grabbed a large wolf out of midair before it attacked Akamaru. Zeherah pulled Hinata and Sakura away from the large wolf as it was being subdued by its mistress. Akamaru began to growl as he saw the wolf that was obviously not happy with his presence.

"God dammit Masaru stop!" Rei yelled. The wolf nipped her hand before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Rei face planted on the hardwood floor where she just laid for a few seconds. Everyone heard her groan before she forced herself up to sit with her legs crossed. Neji crouched down next to her to survey the damage done to her hand. Kiba released his grip on Akamaru and realized it was probably a bad idea to come inside once his nose got a whiff of something he really didn't want to know. Neji smelled a little too much like their new resident missing-nin. Hinata gave Zeherah a nod of thank you before stepping over to Shino.

"Neji-nii-san, you should probably come back to the compound with me so you can tell Hiashi that you are just fine," Hinata said with a small smile.

Rei's eyes narrowed at the curvaceous woman as Sakura kneeled down to heal the small gash in her hand. Neji gave a sigh before nodding, "I'll go back with you, let me grab my bag and we can leave. Where is it Rei?"

Rei pulled her hand from Sakura's gentle grasp and headed upstairs herself. Neji gave a sigh of defeat as Shikamaru simply rolled his eyes and laid back down on his window bench. Sakura cringed as Neji's stuff was unceremoniously tossed to the bottom of the stairs and a door slammed shut. Zeherah ran a hand through her blonde curls and walked in to the kitchen to pour herself some more alcohol. Kiba scoffed and looked at the bag tossed on to the floor.

"What the hell is her problem?" Kiba gruffly asked.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Just because you're an idiot doesn't mean you can't connect the dots."

Sakura sat down on a chair in the dining room and pulled her legs up to her chest. She really did not want to get involved in this. She looked over at Neji and her jaw hit her knees. He was furious. He ran past them all and up the stairs. Zeherah raised an eyebrow, she had never seen Neji act like that in all the months that she had known him. Hinata looked absolutely shocked to see her cousin react like that. Kakashi poofed in to the middle of the dining room and gave a small wave, then he noticed Team 8.

"I take it that it's a bad time to be here?"

Sakura shook her head, "Actually if you were here ten seconds earlier you could have seen Neji go through at least ten emotions."

Kakashi leaned down and gave Sakura a cloth covered kiss on the forehead, "That would have been interesting."

Hinata leaned backwards to look up the stairs but couldn't see anything, "He'll be back down. Give Rei a second to simmer down…if she hasn't castrated him yet," Zeherah mentioned offhandedly.

Kiba winced and took a step towards the door. Shino's eyebrow twitched as the thought hit him and he silently wished Neji luck. Hinata looked closely at Zeherah. She had never had any interactions with the woman since she had been brought in to the village by Naruto. No one really knew anything about them, nor did anyone care to find out anything about them. Their S-class status tended to keep people away from them. Only their guards, Shikamaru, Neji, Kakashi, and Sakura bothered to really know the women. Hinata truly wanted to know how they were able to convince Naruto to allow them to stay and why Neji and Shikamaru stood up to defend them. She knew why Sakura had and of course why Kakashi had supported Sakura but the two men were different. Yes, the women were probationary ninja for the village at this point in time and were large assets to the ANBU for their knowledge of under the table dealings among the villages, but the women themselves were confusing.

Zeherah caught her eye and held the lilac gaze. Hinata knew the woman would be a challenge for her but knew she wouldn't attack. Hinata could see the age behind the chocolate eyes; see all the trials she had gone through. And, she could see how relaxed the posture was within her own home. This woman was one who was ready to settle down and hang up the blade. Hinata jumped as Shino placed a hand on her shoulder and she spun around to see Neji picking up his bag off the floor.

"You ready Hinata-sama?" he asked calmly.

Hinata nodded and caught a glint of gold around his neck that hadn't been there before but dismissed it. Team 8 said their goodbyes and slipped out the door without another word. Rei appeared on the steps as soon as the door closed. Zeherah was already preparing a tall glass of some mixed drink for the blue haired woman as she went over to sit at the dining room table. Zeherah placed it in front of her and pulled Sakura in to the kitchen so they could make a large dinner for them all. Kakashi slid an extra copy of Icha Icha to Rei and the two silently read their porn at the table. Sakura smirked from the kitchen when she saw the two of them reading their smut. Zeherah simply shook her head.

"So Sakura, why did you come over?" she finally asked.

"Naruto wants to give you a mission with Rei. If you two successfully complete it, he will give you a pardon and you can live in the village. If ANBU wants you then you two can join them but you'll be instated as Jounins and you can have a young team if you want."

Zeherah slammed the knife in to the cutting board, "I don't think we will join ANBU even if they ask. I've seen enough blood and secret underhanded things in my life that would make you sick. I am perfectly content with being an instructor and passing on my knowledge. Maybe one day I can have a kid and teach them my tricks, make up for all the evil I've done in my life."

Sakura smiled, "That'd be nice, and with Naruto in charge they will live a peaceful life."

"We're shinobi, there is no such thing as peace. As long as they will be able to defend the future generations without having to shed too much blood things will be fine."

"I wonder how Neji is doing," Sakura suddenly mentioned.

Zeherah bit her lip, that situation worried her more than her status in the village did. "The real question is how are you doing?"

"…I'm fine, really I am. It's just…"

"You have to tell him."

"No, not yet."

Zeherah spun around to look at the pink haired beauty, who was instantly on edge, "You have been saying that for the past three weeks. As you just yelled at the boys for it you too need to stop hiding." Shikamaru walked in to the kitchen and gave Zeherah a kiss on the cheek before reaching for her mixed drink. Sakura glared at the woman to keep her mouth shut around him. "Oh he already knows, ain't that right babe?"

Shikamaru nodded and hopped up on to the counter. "She let slip a while ago, congratulations on it." He sighed as he looked at the wall clock, "I do eventually have to go home at some point," he said to Zeherah.

Zeherah stepped between his legs, "I'll go with you. Sakura you know how to cook this right?"

"Uh yeah."

"Good, we'll be back in time to eat." Shikamaru's eyes were wide as he stared at Zeherah in shock as she threw her long hair up in to a ponytail. His hand came out and snatched her wrist and she stopped.

"Why are you going with me?"

Zeherah winked. "I eventually have to meet the parents, especially if I wanna keep you around." She smirked and walked out of the kitchen to put her shinobi sandals on. Shikamaru shook his head but he had a smile gracing his lips. He followed Zeherah and the two left the house shortly afterwards. Kakashi put his book down and watching them out the dining room window. He looked up and saw Sakura leaning against the doorway with her eyebrows raised at him. He pulled his mask down and smirked at her.

"I have a feeling we will have to leave here early tonight," Kakashi stated as he stood up out of his chair and walked over to Sakura. His arms wrapped around her slender waist. He bent down and gave her a chaste kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him back down for a proper kiss. Sakura giggled as he lifted her up and deposited her on the kitchen counter. Sakura's fingers danced across his bare face and she smiled up at him.

"Kakashi, I have something I need to tell—"

"God dammit Hyuuga! Where the fuck do you think you're going!"

"I need to talk to Naruto."

"That's not going to solve any of your problems." They heard the door open. "Get back here!" Then the door violently slammed shut, making the front windows shake from the force. Sakura groaned and dropped her forehead on to Kakashi's chest. She knew they had to go after the two or else someone would be getting in trouble. Kakashi reached over to the stove and turned the burners off and slipped his mask back on. Sakura placed a kiss over his clothed covered lips and slipped off the counter. The two shinobi followed the trail of their angry missing-nin, which wasn't that hard to follow they just had to listening for the yelling. Kakashi was the first one to jump into Naruto's office and was treated to the sight of Neji begging to stay with Rei. Sakura stood with wide eyes next to him as Neji continued to plead with Naruto. Rei was holding on to Neji's long sleeve so he wouldn't try jumping over the desk. Naruto gave a sharp whistle and Neji fell silent.

"What the hell happened?" Naruto asked.

"I can't stay with the Hyuuga clan anymore."

"Why?" Naruto and the others were shocked at his words.

"Hiashi-sama does not approve of…my relationship choice and is forcing me to either forfeit my life or end the relationship," his voice was calm but inside they could see the determination burning.

Naruto's jaw hit his desk and he shook his head, "Neither of those things are going to happen. I may not exactly approve of Rei but you are the only one that she listens to and you actually smile now. Hiashi and I will have a talk, I'm tired of this stupid clan bureaucratic bullshit. Neji, neither of those things will happen to you and I promise that. For now, stay with Rei and Zeherah I'll summon Hiashi right away so we can get this straightened out. Also, make sure Shikamaru is okay. Since both of you decided you were going to confess to dating those two it might cause a problem for his family as well. Now go. Sai!" Everyone's favorite emotionless shinobi walked in to the room. "Go bring Hiashi to me immediately." Sai nodded and disappeared quickly. Rei wrapped her arm around Neji's waist and pulled him from the room. Sakura and Kakashi followed closely behind. Rei's head leaned against Neji's shoulder before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Kakashi nodded to the two and Sakura nodded. She had been seeing Neji slowly transform and reveal more emotions in public. It was a slow process but neither of them were very public people.

It didn't take them long to reach the Nara compound that was on the outskirts of the village. Neji walked right past the two guards and continued up the dirt pathway that led to one of the bigger houses on the compound. Sakura took Kakashi's hand and threaded her fingers through his; she was enjoying the small little walk with him. Before Neji could even knock on the door it flew open to reveal a beautiful brunette woman that had a bright smile on her face.

"Neji! And you must be Rei! Oh come in, Shikamaru was just talking about you two. Sakura, Kakashi, please come in. I have some tea if you would like some." Everyone followed Yoshino in to the dining room where Zeherah was sitting across from Shikaku with a shogi board between them. Shikamaru was smiling at Zeherah as she made a move against his father. "They've been like that ever since Zeherah showed up," Yoshino said. "I don't think Shikamaru is gonna have a problem with us disapproving of her."

Sakura smiled at that. "That's nice to hear Nara-san."

"Please, call me Yoshino. You are the best friend to these two lovely women. I expect you'll be a bridesmaid soon."

Rei cringed, "I really don't wanna hear that," she whispered.

Zeherah jumped up and down and screamed in victory, "I beat you! Hah!" Shikaku simply shook his head and nodded his acceptance to Shikamaru. Zeherah tackled the Nara right off his chair, to the laughter of the other females in the room. Shikaku waved the others over and they all took seats at the large dining table. Zeherah stood up and pulled Shikamaru back up in to his seat. Yoshino smiled and walked back over to the table with tea.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you two," she directed to Rei and Zeherah. "You've been the biggest buzz in the gossip mill lately. Now I can see why that gossip is warranted." Yoshino turned to Zeherah and pointed a finger at the blonde. "Now! I expect a wedding within the next year and a grandchild within the next two."

Shikamaru groaned and Shikaku chuckled at his wife's antics. Zeherah smiled and winked at Shikamaru. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that. We've been getting a lot of practice in."

"More than just a lot," Rei mumbled in to her tea cup. She caught Zeherah's death glare. "What? I can hear you guys all the way in the basement. I think we need to soundproof our bedrooms."

"I can agree with that," Zeherah stated. "You're louder," she said with a smirk.

Rei rolled her eyes. "If it's a competition of who's loudest then Sakura wins. The girl has a set of lungs on her; you'd think Kakashi was breaking her with the way she screams."

Sakura's face was bright red as she tried to ignore the conversation going on around her. Kakashi smirked beneath his mask and simply gave Rei an eye crease. That eye crease gave her all the answers she needed. The man enjoyed making Sakura scream. They stayed at the Nara house for close to two hours, just talking and laughing about everything. Sakura could see it in Rei and Zeherah's eyes, they were happy to finally be accepted by somebody. They may not express it but it was important to them to be accepted by someone. As they turned to leave Yoshino gave Zeherah a hug and prompted the woman to encourage her son to propose quickly. Then she turned to Rei and gave her a hug. She whispered something to the blue haired beauty and Rei returned the hug happily. Yoshino gave her a kiss on the forehead when they separated and sent them all on their way. Sakura looked up at the sky to see the last rays of sun were beginning to vanish.

"Kakashi, I'm going to leave but I'll meet you back at the apartment okay?" Kakashi kissed her forehead in understanding and watched her jog off to do her weekly routine.

"Well!" Rei looped an arm around Kakashi's. "Since our dinner plans were thrown out how about we go get some food. I'm starving."

"I second that," Zeherah said.

Kakashi slipped his hands in to his pockets and led the way to a small restaurant that he knew wouldn't be busy today. He had no problem with Rei clinging to him, it was actually pretty normal. She would be on one side and Sakura would be on the other. He had a feeling she did it to get a rise out of Neji, which was usually what happened. This time, he wasn't paying any attention to them at all. Her delicate hand reached out and threaded her fingers through his and his hand squeezed her's. Kakashi was silently hoping the five of them would make it to the restaurant on time and be able to avoid everyone, but internally he knew that wouldn't happen. Especially when he heard that shrill scream from down the street. Shikamaru groaned, of course Ino would have to find him today. Zeherah looked over her shoulder, her blonde hair swishing about in a graceful motion. She really did not want to confront the blonde especially while her hand was perfectly content in Shikamaru's grip. His grip began to loosen but Zeherah's tightened. She wasn't going to let him get out of this so easy. Shikamaru braced himself for Ino to throw herself at him but she stopped a few feet away. Her eyes were on their joined hands.

"Shikamaru? What's going on?" Ino asked as Chouji walked over to stand next to her, having finally caught up with her.

"Uh, Ino, Chouji…you already know who this is—"

"Have you been living with her?" Ino asked as she gazed at the blonde haired woman. She had to admit the woman was gorgeous. Her soft brown eyes gazed right through her. Her blonde hair fell in soft waves that framed her angular face and high cheekbones perfectly. Ino gulped, she had met her match in terms of looks and she wasn't all that thrilled about it.

Zeherah placed her hand on Shikamaru's upper arm and he immediately turned to look at her. "We will leave so you three can talk, just don't forget to show up." She pushed up on her tip toes slightly and kissed him on the cheek. She nodded to Chouji and Ino and took Kakashi's other arm as the foursome continued to head to the restaurant.

Chouji smiled at Shikamaru. "Congratulations man. Apparently she survived meeting your parents if that look is any indication."

Shikamaru scoffed and pulled a cigarette out of his pack. He flicked his treasured lighter open and inhaled the smoke. Ino glanced between the two boys before settling her green gaze on Shikamaru.

"What does he mean?"

Shikamaru exhaled and leaned against a building. "It means my mom and dad approve of Zeherah. She beat my father in a game of shogi and was able to make my mother smile and have her fawn over her." Ino's jaw dropped at those words. Chouji's grin grew wider and Shikamaru simply rolled his eyes. "Yes, she said that as well."

Chouji laughed as Ino continued to look confused. He decided it was time to enlighten the poor blonde. "Apparently Shikamaru's mom has told him that he better propose to Zeherah or else she'll disown him," he said with a chuckle.

Shikamaru held his hand out to prevent Ino from talking. She hesitantly held back her scathing remarks. "Before you say anything about her I want to make one thing clear, you do not know her. This entire village hasn't bothered to know who these two women are. Now, if you'd like to join us for dinner and actually get to know her I'd greatly appreciate it," he stated as simply as he could. He tossed his cigarette on the ground and extinguished it with his sandal.

Chouji wrapped an arm around Ino, who was still speechless. "Of course we'll join you. I never pass down food."

Shikamaru grinned at his closest friend and led the way to where he knew Kakashi had taken the others. It was a silent walk for once and Shikamaru was beginning to become curious about Ino. He had hoped he hadn't said too much, but for once he was glad for the peace and quiet. It was one of the reasons why he had become glued to Zeherah. She was actually quiet unlike the other blondes in his life, which he was grateful for. Shikamaru held open the door for the other two and they easily found the table in the corner that had been attacked by Team Gai. Lee was latched on to Rei, crying and screaming about losing his best friend to her while Tenten was prodding Neji for information. Gai was simply sitting beside Kakashi laughing at the scene in front of him. Zeherah smiled softly at Shikamaru and winked at him. She had been having fun watching Lee terrorize Rei.

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Sakura sighed as her fingers trailed over the soft petals of the roses she had picked up from the Yamanaka flower shop earlier. She had made it a habit to visit the memorial stone everyday to pay her respects to Shizune. She wasn't like Kakashi in that aspect but she did spend a considerable amount of time simply talking to the stone face. It gave her comfort in an odd way as she was now finding it difficult to work in the hospital. At every turn she tried to say something only to realize that Shizune was no longer working right next to her. She hadn't seen Tsunade in a while either as the woman had locked herself in her apartment this past week. Shizune at this time of the year would be struggling to set up Tsunade's birthday that was next week. Sakura was upset that she had to miss her shishou's birthday but was hoping the mission would wrap up quickly enough so she could get back soon enough. Sakura looked up to see Tsunade sitting on a blanket in front of the memorial stone. An empty bento box, a bottle of sake, and a bundle of roses sat in front of her. Sakura placed the roses beside the cold stone and sat down on the blanket next to her mentor. The quiet surrounded them as Tsunade passed her the sake bottle. Sakura gave it a glance before passing on it, she couldn't drink any now.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her. "You never pass up on sake whenever we are both here."

"Yeah well, I kind of have to now."

"What's wrong?" Tsunade sat her sake bottle down so she could give her protégé her undivided attention.

"Will you promise you won't be upset with me?" She asked as she wrung her hands together.

"I could never be upset with you." Tsunade placed her hands over Sakura's.

"I…I-I'm pregnant."

Tsunade's jaw hung open as she processed the information. She grinned broadly and wrapped Sakura in her arms, pulling the woman as close to her as possible. "I'm so excited for you!...you haven't told Kakashi have you?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, I'm afraid he will freak out."

Tsunade smacked Sakura upside the head. "I know I taught you better. You were able to bag Kakashi, so why the hell would you be worried? That man loves you. He isn't going to leave."

"I'm just worried is all," Sakura admitted.

"Don't be. Kakashi will take good care of you, besides you're one of the most beloved shinobi in the village. Everyone will support you."

Sakura smiled at her. "Will you be the godmother?"

"I would be honored," Tsunade said with tears barely being restrained. "Now, go get ready for your mission and I will plan a baby shower for when you get back."

Sakura kissed Tsunade on the cheek and gave her a big hug that the older woman gladly reciprocated. "Thank you, shishou."

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Fluffystwin: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Expect another chapter soon, which will continue on the next day with the beginning of their mission. Remember Sakura, Kakashi, Neji, and Shikamaru are there to evaluate Rei and Zeherah's performance so I will be focusing on all three couples. Kakashi and Sakura will be the main story as obviously Sakura is hiding something very large from him. Let me know what you all think and I'm open for suggestions. I hand write these chapters before I type them so I'm always looking for extra ideas to lengthen chapters. Leave a review to let me know if I'm doing well. Thank you for reading guys.


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